Coco avant Chanel

[petronia]

More the adaptation of a non-existent Colette novel than the type of movie that, yanno, has the main character cut up a bedsheet and turn it into an amazing dress in a 30-second musical montage. There's some of that, but not in that way. Mostly you watch her looking at other people's clothes with gears ticking behind her eyes, and realize it'll come out the other end in ten years, twenty years, thirty, even though she didn't know it herself. It's all first act, is the thing: if Coco had been a man she'd've made herself in business like Boy Capel did, and if she'd been a different kind of woman she'd've gone down in fashion history as a trend-setting demi-mondaine muse or the like, but she couldn't have a sense of destiny - to want to be what she became - because it didn't exist. You get two minutes of the future Mademoiselle Chanel* toward the end, and it's like OK that was A to G, where's the other movie that takes us from H to Z.** For most of the running time she's half awkward, half cold-eyed street hustle, and proto-everything; farouche (this doesn't have a good English equivalent). She's not even well-dressed, more like snapshotted at the deliberately ugly refus global stage of the iconoclast who's just grossed out beyond belief at what everyone else is doing. To be fair if I were gazing on my rich boyfriends' perfect menswear every day I'd feel ripped off with the pink crepe de chine roses that were my lot as well.*** Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. When it works one experiences a sort of aesthetics dissonance (as opposed to values dissonance) verging on anachronism, where everyone else is dressed normally for a Belle Epoque historical biopic, and Coco Chanel is the only woman in France wearing Chanel.

It's also good to be reminded that Mademoiselle was down on frilly crap given the collections Lagerfeld's been sending down the runway recently. XD; Not that I don't dig the rock'n'roll lolita Marie Antoinette stylings - kinda classic KL boutade in response to the economic crisis - but they do skirt the edge of saccharine, and one suspects Chanel would've judged them horribly vulgar. She'd've liked the Cruise 09/10 collection, though, maybe? The whole thing is up here****, I didn't realize there were so many looks. It rather feels like he designed the regular collections for the Alexa Chungs and Lily Allens, but the Cruise collection is where the clothes for grownups are at.



* The scariest woman of the 20th century. Of course you would dress like she told you to; it'd be easier to disobey Queen Victoria. There's one long shot which is basically model-POV as they file past and her eyes flicker up and down, up and down...

** If they'd carried this characterization forward in time the Nazi thing would've been easily understandable if not sympathetic, because she was all about the survivorship hustle. Like, she clearly didn't have that kind of morals. XD;

*** I'm a fan, obviously. The thing about the Chanel suit or the original LBD (which is this sort of long-sleeved H-line thing in wool jersey that nowadays would probably be described as a "Donna Karan work dress" rather than a LBD) is that they're more comfortable than most of what people have come up with afterward while looking 1,000,000 times more put-together. In the course of this blog I've probably typed and deleted half a dozen screeds against the myth of jeans as "comfortable", because I'd be depressed to discover it was just me, but I really felt cheated by society when I realized they were more restrictive than skirts and dresses, not less.

**** The House of Chanel should podcast DJ mixes that are like electro electro electro *sampled Karl Lagerfeld quote* electro electro. Hilarant.

Comments

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on the jeans, but that's NAmerican straightleg or whatever cut. The jeans I bought in Amsterdam lo! these 20 years ago and more were blouson, looked beautifully draped (denim can't drape but these did) and stunned me by being as easy move in as a skirt. Sit, stride, run-- I could do all of it.

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

OK- what manga did those Chanel models get their hair and eyes from? I want to say Motohashi Keiko, except there's more than a hint of Edward Gorey.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

It does look like Motohashi Keiko! It's meant to be a riff on 1920s flapper style, I guess, marcelled curls and white powder and tons of smudgey kohl.

[motorbike.livejournal.com]

oh no, is it hilarant, not hilare?? orz

Really enjoying the Cruise walk vid! There is a special place in my heart for "tastefully costumey things for mature ladies" which is how I see Chanel. The commentary sort of seals the deal.

PS: tricornes are back in! finally :333

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Haha actually it is hilarant, I think you put the word in my mind tho and I didn't realize. XD

(To be precise, hilare means something/someone who is laughing eg. "un visage hilare", hilarant means something funny eg. "une blague hilarante". It's like the difference between nauseous and nauseating I guess.)

I really love the Cruise collection! I have this massive tasteful French chic streak that's most prominent w/r/t perfume, once had a 70-year-old Frenchman tell me I smelt like his mother. XD;; Also I ♥ Venice and want to go back. :|

[motorbike.livejournal.com]

My french is also nauseating lol

Re: jeans, I am a fan because they make for a good "oh this? just threw it on ohohoh" look, and because I ride a bicycle. (Not knocking skirt+bike combo though! Breezy.) But I agree they limit mobility unless the fit is perfect, and a perfect fit with jeans is like the gd holy grail. Also I can not for the life of me pull off this skinny high-heel combo that lengthens the legs because my thighs are not the exact same circumference as my gd calves >:|

[petronia.livejournal.com]

The problem with skinny jeans is that they don't lengthen your legs unless your legs don't need lengthening. >_>

[canis-m.livejournal.com]

Dunno, I too love skirts 'n' dresses, but they enforce performance of feminine body language, and in that sense I sometimes find them restrictive, not in the physical freedom-of-movement / structural sense. Like, they're swell if you're in a mood to perform femininity, but sometimes I'm not--sometimes I want to sit with my legs splayed like a goddamn alpha male, and you gotta be in trousers to make that work without flashing the world. Sitting like this (http://images.inmagine.com/img/photoalto/paa136/paa136000038.jpg) (my favorite) also totes awkward not to say unfeasible in many skirts.

IMO a roomy pair of jeans--not the tight-fitting ass-hugging crotch-choking kind--can be almost as good as sweatpants or PJs for comfort. Then again it's prolly psychological as much as anything; if jeans are what one changes into when one gets home from work, of course they're going to feel freeing. But in the event of disaster (zombie apocalypse, alien invasion, etc.) I would prefer to be wearing jeans & sneakers, or jeans & unheeled boots.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

For me it's all structural, jeans drive me crazy because they feel like they just. don't. fit. XD;; Like yr link: I would actually be OK sitting with my legs folded like that in minidress and opaque tights because I wouldn't feel like I'm flashing, ditto in a full-ish circle skirt or some such because it'd spread over the knees, but I wouldn't be OK sitting like that in jeans because I'd feel the waistband gaping in back and be paranoid that I'm showing underwear. And that's because I wear low-rise, and I wear low-rise because I'm slightly pear-shaped so jeans that fit around my thighs don't fit around my natural waist, and I keep having to pull them up. And yanno, that's not unusual for a woman, being slightly pear-shaped, so I've gotta think I'm not the only one. But if you're not all bets are off I guess, you'd have a whole different set of crosses to bear. XD;

In the event of disaster I'd prefer to be wearing a tunic mini, tights (not hose) and boots, yeah. 60s SF style all the way for me.

(Obviously sitting with legs splayed is impossible in a pencil skirt, but I never wear pencil skirts - precisely because I can't stride or sit in them comfortably and it drives me nuts. Also they look terrible on me. Because I'm slightly pear-shaped. It's a theme. XD;)

[canis-m.livejournal.com]

Yeah, have always been stick-shaped, here, so boy clothes are basically a go, though even with stick figure it is still near-impossible to find a pair of jeans that rly trly fits; I took this as a universal condition. The few that do are the Grail and are suitably rewarding. Most of my skirts are A-lines; A-line + boots (or flats) combo is fine for running from zombies,* and is prolly my favorite work outfit, but it does render leg-splaying unseemly. I've never learned to do the minidress/tights thing; my bottom half feels too exposed! (Again, psychological. It's really only in recent years that I've learned to like tights at all; I used to hate them as much as I loathed hose, simply because they cling directly to skin ugh. Even now I still peel them off frantically when I get home. And change into jeans. XD;)

Not gonna argue with 60s SF, though. Classic.

* Preparedness for zombie apocalypse at forefront of consciousness lately as I not only saw Zombieland, but am now reading World War Z ._. (Why did none of dude's rules address proper attire?! Cardio will get you nowhere in 3-inch heels.)

[petronia.livejournal.com]

I imagine, like most dudes in most circs, he didn't stop to consider the other gender's viewpoint - not to mention was avowed hikkikomori who never interacted with women to begin with. XD; IIRC the female characters were indeed wearing jeans and boots.

/butting in :D

[motorbike.livejournal.com]

I feel that zombie apocalypse attire should protect as much of the leg as poss in case of ground-level attack, so I would go for jeans in boots as a precaution. Which is what I wear September to May anyway, so I am totes set. Nice call on WWZ for Halloween month btw, though I would have liked to see more civilian-pov "accounts", as those were the most m-memorable.

Also I agree re: tights and raise you long sleeves for the same reason, though am obvs not a fair authority as the weather here rarely compels me to wear pants at home.

Re: /butting in :D

[canis-m.livejournal.com]

Good call on the ankle-biters. Man I need new boots. WWZ entertaining although was gravely disappointed in Japanese accounts being limited to a hikkikomori otaku and Zatoichi the gardener; where were the zombie-slaying schoolgirls in sailor fuku and loose socks?

Sleeves, yeah, and how I hate that first day (after long avoidance) when it gets cold enough to necessitate socks.

[troisroyaumes]

I actually felt the same way you did about jeans and refused to wear them all throughout high school! Although I didn't wear skirts or dresses and chose to go for twill baggy pants that were shapeless and unflattering. >>; I switched to jeans during college and have adapted but I still don't think of them as being all that comfortable.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

I had a (skirt) uniform in high school but wore baggy khaki cargo pants all through university - it was the late 90s, they were comfortable, and Canada is cold. XD; Once A-line skirts came back in fashion I saw the light. Once tights w/ boots became an option I stopped wearing pants almost entirely.

[sub-divided.livejournal.com]

Ditto! Though I broke down halfway through high school and started wearing (my older cousin's nice soft hand-me-down) jeans, I wore sweatpants and cloth pants for the longest time. Jeans really aren't comfortable, but I've learned how to wear them with belts so at least they'll stay on.

[helvetius.livejournal.com]

I think the Mademoiselle is more likely than not rolling around in her grave with all the nonsense her house is coming out now. Barnyard romps, frilly frou frou and er, clogs.

FWIW, skinny jeans ftw, never mind the hipster stigma. Like leggings, but without visible wobbling buttchecks and undies outline.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

When did Chanel start getting so frou-frou, I'd like to see their in-house market research on who the heck is buying this stuff. 19-year-old mistresses of Russian oligarchs, I keep uncomfortably imagining. Japanese ojousama who're too conspicuous-consumption for Baby The Stars Shine Bright? When KL goes back to tweedy things it's lovely, but.

Can't wear skinny jeans, legs are too thick. XD; (I don't mean it looks bad - I can't pull them up period. Ditto with thigh-high socks and most boots, actually.) I also don't wear leggings by themselves and rely on a dress or skirt to hide the wobbly bits.

[marici.livejournal.com]

I read a review of that movie where the (male) reviewer couldn't understand how they got it so wrong: Chanel was obviously not a feminist, because she liked some men, and liked some things about them. I eventually got over my urge to beat him about the head for the crime of being Wrong on the Internet.